Old Style Christmas Preparations for Christmas 2013

Possession

Can anyone help me with ideas for DH's grandparents, I'm completely stumped this year.
They are both in their 90's. They have enough money to get what they want through the year, which isn't much. She has a heart condition, he has longstanding diabetes. He can't see well at all so books are out, and has very fixed ideas on which music is good, all of which he's got. He has a lot of mobility issues so they are pretty much housebound. I've done a homemade hamper for them for the last 2 years but I'm pretty sure they've had enough of those. They say they don't want any presents but it's one of those situations where you have to get them something, and both DH's siblings are very well off and will spend a fair bit. We are with them all for xmas day this year and to watch them open just a poinsetta for example might be a bit embarrassing. Although a poinsetta with something else might work.

mrs-moneypenny

possession, how about a talking book so they can listen to someone reading them a story if reading isnt brill anymore.

do they have a garden they are able to get out into? how about a nice shrub in a pot that you could offer to go round in spring and plant out for them. or a bird box so they could watch the birds nesting in the spring.
will have a think for you

Possession

Thanks Mrs moneypenny. They don't have a garden, sorry, should have put that.
Talking books is an idea though. We got them a boxed set of Agatha Christie audio books from the Book People for one of their birthdays last year, I'll try to find out if they actually listened to them!

Byatt

Possession, would a gift card for one of the supermarkets work?

Or a supply of their favourite tea, coffee, biscuits?

Broomstick

If they haven't got a garden, would something like this work? http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/window-bird-feeder.html obviously not if they are in a 10th floor flat, or front onto a street where it might get vandalised. I've never used one so don't know how well they'd work in practice but I'm sure someone else here might. There's also a more expensive gift pack with food.

My mum (mid-80s) has failing eyesight and she has discovered Kindle which has kept her pleasure of reading going. She also has worsening arthritis but can manage the controls easily and can enlarge the text to suit. I wondered whether your DH's dad might be able to use one too, or if his eyesight is beyond that.

B x

System

Possession wrote: »

Can anyone help me with ideas for DH's grandparents, I'm completely stumped this year.
They are both in their 90's. They have enough money to get what they want through the year, which isn't much. She has a heart condition, he has longstanding diabetes. He can't see well at all so books are out, and has very fixed ideas on which music is good, all of which he's got. He has a lot of mobility issues so they are pretty much housebound. I've done a homemade hamper for them for the last 2 years but I'm pretty sure they've had enough of those. They say they don't want any presents but it's one of those situations where you have to get them something, and both DH's siblings are very well off and will spend a fair bit. We are with them all for xmas day this year and to watch them open just a poinsetta for example might be a bit embarrassing. Although a poinsetta with something else might work.

A few years before my StepFather died I bought him a magnifying glass for Christmas. He wore glasses but even so, his eyes were shockingly awful and me really missed reading the newspaper. He clung onto the magnifying glass as if his life depended on it and he started reading the newspapers again. I wish i'd bought it sooner. I bought it from the opticians.

Broomstick

Judi,

That's such a good idea. We had one of the ones that you hang round your neck and balance on your chest because DS2 when young had awful unresolved eyesight problems and he found this helped. As his problems got fixed and he no longer needed the magnifier, we passed it on to my mum and she now uses it a lot. We got ours from the optician too.

B x

System

One point id like to make though. I bought him a glass magnifying glass. You can pick up plastic ones cheap enough but they tend to get scratched easily but are much lighter. I also bought him a decent sized one to save him having to move the magnifier each time he'd read a sentence.

quidsy

My nan have a giant TV remote as she was partially blind & with slightly shaky hands so it helped her change the channels, another one we got her one year was a specialist phone with big numbers, for the same reason, she found modern handsets just to hard to see & use.

Possession

We bought him an antique (very him) magnifying glass a few years ago which he still uses I think, but he can't read books any more. Scary thing is, up until a couple of years ago he was still driving!
DH's grandmother is amazing for her age, so they don't need bigger remotes or anything. She's also, in the nicest possible way, a bit Mrs Bucket so it needs to be something a bit special - posh tea or coffee would be OK but not normal stuff. He likes coffee, she doesn't. I could probably find out from MIL what kind of coffee/tea would be acceptable. Also I've never got the impression they care anything about feeding birds. Hope that doesn't make them sound horrible, they aren't at all. I guess by the time you get to their time of life you deserve to be a bit choosy about what you like and don't like.